Asteroids

ESA is Planning a Mission to the Smallest Spacerock Ever Visited: the Moon of an Asteroid

For some small minority of humans, Death By Asteroid is a desirable fate. The idea probably satisfies their wonky Doomsday…

6 years ago

Steam-Powered Spacecraft Could Explore the Asteroid Belt Forever, Refueling Itself in Space

A partnership between Honeybee Robotics and the University of Central Florida has produced the first steam-powered spacecraft for asteroid mining.

6 years ago

Interstellar Objects like Oumuamua Probably Crash into the Sun Every 30 Years or so and 2 Pass Within the Orbit of Mercury

A new study by a team of Harvard scientists reveals how we could study future interstellar visitors like 'Oumuamua

6 years ago

OSIRIS-REx Has Already Found Water on Bennu

NASA's OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) has found water on the asteroid Bennu. Bennu is OSIRIS-REx's only…

6 years ago

OSIRIS-REx has Finally Caught up with Asteroid Bennu. Let the Analysis and Sample Collection Commence!

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has reached its destination and is now in orbit around asteroid Bennu. The spacecraft travelled for over…

6 years ago

There Could be Hundreds of Interstellar Asteroids and Comets in the Solar System Right Now That we Could Study

According to a new study, there could be hundreds of identifiable objects in our Solar System like 'Oumuamua, some of…

6 years ago

Catching Asteroid 3 Juno at Its Best

Not all oppositions are created equal. This week's target offers a good case in point, as asteroid 3 Juno reaches…

6 years ago

Could ‘Oumuamua Be an Extraterrestrial Solar Sail?

A new study by researchers from the CfA offers a compelling explanation for 'Oumuamua strange appearance and behavior - could…

6 years ago

Asteroid Phaethon breaks all the rules. It acts like a comet, it supplies particles to a meteor shower. Oh, and it’s blue

A team of astronomers recently observed Phaeton, a Near-Earth Object (NEO) that behaves like both an asteroid and a comet

6 years ago

The Path that MASCOT Took Across Asteroid Ryugu During its 17 Hours of Life

The tiny robot lander MASCOT did a fine job on the surface of asteroid Ryugu, and its zigzag path allowed…

6 years ago